Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page Given Doctoral Degree by Berklee College

May 12, 2014 00:56:41 GMT

The guitarist said in his acceptance speech of how much pleasure to be in the position to do what he does best.

Photo credit: /WENN

Led Zeppelin's former guitarist Jimmy Page was given a doctoral honorary degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston on Saturday, May 10. The 70-year-old rocker was honored alongside Valerie Simpson, Geri Allen, and Thara Memory, who represent R&B, jazz, and music education.

Berklee president Roger H. Brown presented the awards at the Agganis Arena in front of more than 4,000 guests and 900 graduates from 66 countries. Page had prepared a speech to be read but he was so impressed by the performance of his hits the previous night that his speech became useless.

"What a spirit there is here," he began. "Music has so much power across so many avenues. To be in a position to do the thing you're best at, which is making music, and bringing joy and pleasure to other people, it can't be much better than that. I wish to pass that on to all of you. Congratulations with your degrees and lots of success in the future."

Page stayed with Zeppelin for more than a decade in the '70s. The band will re-issue their first first three albums in June.